Scion

Birthrights

When Gods sire children with mortals, they give those children the ability to stack up and knock down the building blocks of reality. Yet, whether these gifts, these “Birthrights” in modern Scions’ neo-archaic parlance, are truly blessings or vile curses on the World depend on how a Scion uses them.

Epic Attributes are a manifestation of a scion’s divine heritage. An Epic Attribute is typically tied to the Scion’s divine parent, and indicates that the character is extraordinarily proficient with that Attribute. An Epic Attribute adds an effective +1 to all rolls made on an Attribute.

There is no limit to the number of epic attributes you can purchase; however, you are limited to one epic “level” of an attribute for every two points of legend AND every two points of the normal attribute (rounded down in both cases).

Knacks are special aspects that are related to their Epic Attributes. They describe something their character can do that pushes the boundaries of possibility. Knacks can be invoked just like any other aspect. In addition, a Scion can spend a point of legend to invoke a knack and automatically succeed with style at any task.

Epic Attributes and example knacks are discussed below. The Knacks given here are by no means exhaustive. If you think of something you’d rather have than what is listed, making knacks is not just allowed, it is encouraged.

Relics, simply put, are powerful artifacts crafted from the blood and flesh of powerful titanspawn. To create a relic, simply come up with a name for it. If the Relic is something from Myth or that has some kind of historical significance, this may be all you need to do. Everyone knows that if your character somehow comes across the Holy Grail of the Covenant, it should be able to heal the wounds of those who drink from it (allowing you to invoke when healing people). And most people know that Herme’s Sandals allow their wearer to fly (allowing you to invoke for any roll involving jumping).

Some relics may need a little explanation, especially if you are creating them yourself. It may not be immediately obvious that William Prescott’s Powdered Wig makes any troops you command completely fearless in the face of insurmountable odds (allowing you to invoke it to help you keep your troop morale up), or that the hide of the Nimean Lion could be pieced by no blade, and thus protected Hercules while wearing it after (thus allowing you to invoke it when defending against swords and knives).
Relics can be invoked just like any other aspect, as long as you can come up with a way to use it to make your action easier.

Additionally, by spending a point of Legend, you can use your Aspect to make an epic declaration. This is typically something amazing, game changing, and will often either turn the tide of battle, allow the Scion to overcome a previously insurmountable obstacle, or completely negate some horrible consequence of fate. The character with the grail could raise a fallen ally from the dead. The wearer of the Lion’s hide could completely negate a deathblow.

Typically, there are no rolls involved with this declaration. You spend the point of Legend, and what you want to happen just happens. This, of course, should be discussed with the GM and the rest of the Table. Relics are supposed to be powerful, but they shouldn’t completely negate the challenge of the game or derail the storyline. Typically Relics should be used as an “ah crap, we screwed up, how are we gonna fix it?” option.

Purviews

Groups of Boons that affect the same fundamental force or concept (such as fire or death or fertility) are said to be part of the same Purviews. Purviews come in three overarching categories. The largest consists of all-purpose Purviews, which are associated with certain Gods but are available to any Scion (though at character creation you must choose Purviews associated with your divine parent). The next category includes pantheon-specific Purviews. Only Scions from the pantheon to which the Purviews belong may use these Boons.
The smallest category covers special Purviews that don’t all have Boons per se but still grant divine power. Like the all-purpose Purviews, these Purviews are associated with certain Gods but are available to any Scion.